Less rain, higher temperatures ahead; weekend mercury may climb slightly higher than average

With rainfall forecast to slow down by Thursday, weekend temperatures look to be slightly higher than normal, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Carroll.

"We may see temperatures above 60 degrees along the coast near Arcata, Eureka and McKinleyville, and temperatures around 70 degrees for Ukiah and other interior valleys and south of Mendocino County," Carroll said.

Carol Rische, general manager for the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, said the rain has helped fill Ruth Reservoir.

"We had reached a low of 54 percent, but with the recent rains, we have increased capacity to 74 percent," Rische said. "If we get a couple more storms, we could fill to capacity very quickly."

Rische added that the district has been keeping track of the drier years in Humboldt County.

"We have been comparing the dry years of 1976 and 1977 to this year and the reservoir was not nearly as low as it was in the past," she said. "We were low on reserves this year but we didn't have many of the problems the rest of the state had."

With rain coming during the late afternoon and overnight Tuesday, Carroll said the storm looks to be improving by Thursday and especially into Friday.

"The storm is bringing rain with a colder air loft moving in overnight," Carroll said. "By the time the precipitation starts to end Wednesday morning, it will transition into snow in the mountains."

The snow showers are forecast to bring about an inch of snow in the Del Norte mountains, with elevations around 4,000 and 5,000 feet getting between two and four inches.

The Eureka area is looking at getting between one-tenth of an inch and a quarter of an inch of rain from this storm.

"It will also be a little breezy but nothing to be worried about," Carroll said.